Leaves of Grass
by intothedeep27
Summary: No matter when, no matter where, he will always find her - for not even the stars can keep the fated couple apart. [Lokane] [Soulmate AU]


**Summary** _ **:**_ _No matter when, no matter where, he will always find her - for not even the stars can keep the fated couple apart. [Lokane] [Soulmate AU]_

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 **Disclaimer:** Clearly, I don't own Marvel because if I did, Lokane would be a real thing.  
¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

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 **"** _ **Peace is always beautiful.**_ **"** _ **  
**_Walt Whitman, _Leaves of Grass_

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 _ **Leaves of Grass  
01**_

They first meet as children, hundreds and hundreds of years ago.

He is an Asgardian Prince, first and foremost, so when he finds himself drenched in a sour-smelling liquid by some... _peasant_ , the first thought that comes to his mind is to put some sort of spell on her as punishment.

She is sprawled across the floor, her eyes closed as she groans. "Watch where you're going! Now I have to go all the way _back_ to the market and try to convince them to give me another one!" the girl growls out, still unaware of who _he_ is. "It's hard enough as it is, being a kid and trying to get a grown man to give you some Everless essence!"

"...And?"

Her eyes shoot open with anger as she quickly stands up, trying to match her height up to the boy in front of her. The words on the tip of her tongue melted away, though, as she begins to _analyze_ – for a lack of a better word – the boy in front of her. Immediately, she knows he is not from around here. His clothes are too clean, too expensive even for the richest in her village, and the way he speaks – it holds an accent she has yet to hear from anyone. There is dirt on his clothes as if he was _attempting_ to dirty them, yet they had no looseness to them – they looked too new.

" _And_ no one takes me seriously as it is, and having to go back to get the same ingredient is only going to make it worse."

As she continues rambling – _complaining, more like it_ – Loki is simply...watching. He refuses to believe that he is shocked – _because gods damn it, he is not_ – at the fact that the child in front of him did not...recognize him.

Yes, he is a child as well, but he is _Loki Odinson_ , a gods-damned _prince_. It doesn't matter if they're the same age.

" _You_ ," the girl says with a threatening undertone to her voice as she jabs a finger at him. "Are you going to help me, it's the least you can do to pay me back."

At this, Loki eyes widen as his own annoyance with civilian erupts. How dare she speak to him in this manner? It is bad enough that she had covered him with Everless essence, but to demand _him_ to repay her for her own blunder?

That is where he draws the line.

"I will do no such thing, _peasant_ ," the word slips out of his mouth before he can hold it back. However, it did little to defuse the situation he is in. In fact, it happened to make it worse. The girl matches his own flames of anger with her own, as his insult ignited something within her – something she has never felt before in her life.

"I don't _care_ if you're some rich man's kid – you ran into _me_ , so that should mean you owe me some more Everless liquid." Then, without any notice, the nameless girl grabs Loki's shirt and begins to pull him in the direction she came in. She ignores his sudden cries of anger and disbelief as she drags him past the tall people all around her. She only stops when she sees guards in front of her, their hands on their weapons, the air around them threatening.

"Release the boy, and you will not be hurt."

Cocking an eyebrow, she turns to the boy and sees a satisfying smirk on his face as the men come nearer. "I would listen to them."

"...Why should I?" She turns back around and with her free hand, points to the man on the right. "They're not real."

The smirk quickly disappears as this time, Loki can only feel a burning from within him. How did...did this _girl_ , a _no one_ , see through his illusions? This was _impossible_ , he managed to fool his mother only last week – _yes_ , it was only for a few minutes, but if his mother had been fooled for that short of a time then it should mean that for this girl, she should not have noticed.

...Yet, the unbelievable happened – the girl pokes the soldiers in front of them and her hand phases through their bodies, a rainbow-like film shuddering until the men disappear.

Gulping, Loki looks up at the girl and for the first time, _truly_ sees her.

With messy brown hair, pulled back into a pitiful bun that was nearly undone, the girl stood shorter than him and she was...dirtier than him, with mud streaked across her face. Yet, her eyes – they drew him in and for some reason, he felt entranced – but the spell over him broke at her next words.

"Get up, your highness, because even if you _are_ a prince, you still owe me Everless essence."

Finally returning back to his wits, he pulls out of her grip and dust off his clothes with as much dignity as possible. " _And_ what right do you have to make that request of me, I ask again?"

"Well," she says, bringing her hands behind her back in an innocent manner. She gives him an innocent smile, but the mischievous glint in her eyes keep Loki on edge. " _Your Highness_ , I see no guards around you, you're using your magic to try and trick me, and so I concluded that you don't want to be found. I could quickly make it that you _are_ found, by screaming your name." She brings her head up and down as she looks at his clothes. "Besides, you stand out quite a lot. You try to fit in with the rest of us, yet your clothes are still too new and you hold yourself to highly, almost as if you're _royalty_." Then, she leans forward with a finger pointing to his face. "And before you try denying that you're Prince Loki, your magic and features gave it away to me."

Loki hated being humiliated but to be humiliated _by her_ …

"...Okay." The quickest way to get out of his situation is to simply follow the girl and do what she asks. "I shall purchase the Everless essence you require."

"Great!" She begins walking but quickly turns back around. There is a genuine smile on her face as she introduces herself. "I'm Jane."

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 **01**

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Decades later, when Loki has long forgotten about his encounter with the peasant girl, he stands next to his older brother, his anger building within him.

Oh, but he is careful because he could never let Odin know of his anger, of his loneliness, of his _sadness_ of always being second. He was never good enough of Odin – it was always Thor, to their father. Thor would always be praised, be rewarded with their father's knowledge. Loki always did _something_ wrong – he is simply not good enough for the King of Asgard.

Never enough.

Once his meeting with Odin finishes, Loki walks out of the Throne Room as Thor tries to catch up to him, but a messenger beats his older brother to it. "Your Highness, the Queen requests your presence."

"Wait, Loki–"

Waving nonchalantly, Loki runs for where he knows his mother will be. "We shall catch up later, Brother. Mother requests of my presence." He is careful to keep his face absent of any emotion, but he cannot help but feel a sliver of satisfaction at his brother's disappointment.

While Thor may be Odin's favorite, Loki is certain that out of the two of them, he is their mother's.

He reaches the library, and he sees his mother next to someone, sitting at the table with several papers strewn over it. "Mother, you summoned me?"

Frigga whirls around with a smile on her face, and it helps lift Loki's foul mood. " _Yes_ , my son, I want you to meet someone. You know of the programs the Elders created, allowing the court to sponsor a person within the Scholars, right?"

"Yes, you were the one who advocated for the program."

Frigga simply smiles before turning back to the person still sitting at the table. "Dear, you don't have to be shy – come, please." Before Loki can prepare himself, the person – a young woman – turns around and pushes her chair in, smiling at him.

She still has dimples on the side of her mouth when she smiles, and the warm chocolate eyes he had forgotten about look at him from across the room as they hold the same depth they had all those decades ago.

"Your Highness, my name is –"

"Jane, Jane Sigyn, if I recall correctly," he says without hesitation. The burning in his chest is back again, and he does not understand what it is. "I see that...you are the chosen Scholar."

"Well, yes, I am." Bowing, her dress flares around her as she bows on one knee. "It is an honor, meeting you."

"I have chosen you, my son, to guide her around the Palace." There is a twinkle in his mother's eyes that he knows all too well, and before he can think of an excuse to leave, Frigga whirls around and walks away.

Frustration courses through his veins but after years of keeping his face clear of emotion, he is able to stop his brows from scrunching – a bad habit that took him nearly two decades to stop. "You heard my mother, let's begin your tour." Without waiting for Jane, he beings walking in a direction, not quite sure where he wants to go. Perhaps the dungeons, just because he's in a petty mood, particularly after his earlier encounter with his father.

There is an awkward silence between them, only to be broken seconds later. "You live here?" Jane's mouth hangs open as she looks up to the tall ceilings. "It's...amazing."

Looking at the shock in her eyes, he scoffs. "It really is not."

"Well, I guess for someone who's lived here for his entire life it wouldn't be much." Turning to him, she gives him a smirk. "But for someone like me, it is."

"I see your time in the Junior Program hasn't gotten rid of your accent."

"And I see your time here has only made you even _more_ obnoxious." Loki hears her mutter quickly after, "Which I thought was impossible."

Once again, Loki finds himself scoffing and the sheer audacity of the woman next to him. No one dares to speak to him in this manner outside of his immediate family, and to hear the blatant disrespect in her voice...she truly is full of surprises.

"If you can manage to close your jaw, may we begin the tour?" With a smirk, he motions to a door. "Unless you choose to drool all over the floor – _ow!_ "

Jane snickers as Loki rubs his forehead, his eyes looking at her with disbelief. " _How dare you–_ "

"You're being too loud – let's go." Then, she proceeds to do the unbelievable – she grabs his arm and begins dragging him after her in a random direction.

Yet, instead of pulling out of her grip, he finds himself captivated by her smile and the knowledge he knows that lie behind her eyes – eyes that look at him with no anger, no annoyance, and no pity.

And because of that, Loki falls.

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 **01** – **End**

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 **A/N** : _What do you guys think? The story itself will probably be about two to three chapters. I hope Loki is pretty realistic! Also, ignore the Everless essence crap – I clearly just made that up. It doesn't really have any play into the story whatsoever._

 _Anyways, please leave a review and a follow/favorite!_


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